An XCOM Side Story--Chimera Squad

Before I write this review, it's best to preface it with a dose of reality--I'm not very good at strategy games.  I really wish that I was some kind of tactical genius, but I'm not.  That doesn't mean that I don't mostly enjoy them--it's just a strange type of enjoyment--let's call it "stress enjoyment."  My lack of skill combined with the general challenge of the games usually makes for oodles of swearing at the screen and also laughing at myself when I make a particularly dumb move (like trying to click a message off the screen and instead moving a squad member to the place where I accidentally clicked).

Chimera Squad is a diverse group of individuals.

So, what exactly is Chimera Squad?  It's best to think of it as an XCOM side story--it's not a full-on prequel/sequel and it focuses on one particular setting--City 31, an urban center that exemplifies the post-alien invasion struggles on Earth.  City 31 is filled with a diverse population of aliens, humans, and hybrids (human/alien genetic amalgamations that were the result of part of the failed invasion plan).  Not everything is peachy in City 31 and not everyone gets along (imagine that, right?).  That's where Chimera Squad comes in--it's part of a special XCOM adjacent program designed to keep the peace.  The squad is made up members that represent the diverse population of City 31--humans, aliens, and hybrids working together for the common good.

Gameplay consists of a couple of different parts--the first part is completing combat missions.  The combat during the missions is largely like the previous games with one notable exception--they take place in smaller, set environments (say...a couple of rooms) as opposed to a larger map layout like in the full games.  Each mission opens with a "breach" sequence that involves analyzing the entrances into the main combat area (sometimes there's only one door and your entire squad enters at one point; other times there are 2 or more points of entry and you can choose where squad members will enter).  There's strategy in choosing how to breach--each option offers a set of buffs and/or debuffs which impact combat during that portion of the mission.  There are various objectives within the missions, sometimes you will need to escort a VIP to an extraction point, or destroy a particular piece of equipment, eliminate waves of resistance, or just simply eliminate the enemy presence.  There are missions which are directly tied to the main story and then others that you can choose to complete.

The other part of gameplay is utilizing the city map in your home "base."  You don't get a snazzy, cool ship like in the other games, but you do get a place where you can outfit your squad, provide training, design new equipment, and keep an eye on the activity in the many zones of the city.  There's even more strategizing in this aspect.

Chimera Squad's main task is to investigate the murder of the mayor of City 31.  There are three different oddball groups active in the city who could possibly be behind the heinous act--Grey Phoenix (a group of mixed mercenaries), the Progeny (a human group of psionics), and Talon Squad (a group of former ADVENT soldiers).  Once you pick a group to pursue, missions appear of the city map and you can choose how and when you want to go after them--the main story missions will appear with a time frame for when they will open up.  Prior to that you have to deal with other missions related to the activities of the group in question.  Each mission offers up a specific set of resource (and sometimes gear) rewards.  One of the challenging parts of choosing missions is something called "unrest."  If you don't complete certain missions (and you have to choose between two every time) the unrest meter rises by a certain amount.  If the meter reaches the highest level it contributes to city "anarchy" and you can lose the game if the "anarchy" meter gets too high.  Basically, it's a balancing act of trying to pick rewards you need and also keep unrest under control (fortunately, you can unlock some tools that help).  It took me about 26 hours to complete the entire campaign.

Pros:

+ Chimera Squad attempts to do something that the regular XCOM games do not--to give the squad some personality and make them more than just movable chess pieces.  There's some banter between squadmates when you return to your base which reveals some of their backstories.  The writing in the game isn't particularly memorable, but I think trying to do this is a step in the right direction for the series.

+ Squad member abilities help give each character their own strengths and makes them more than just the default classes from the original games.  You start off the game with a base squad of four members that make up a balanced squad--there's Godmother who wields a shotgun and is good for up close and personal blasting abilities; Cherub wields a kinetic shield and has an ability to place a shield around himself or any squad member--if the shielded individual takes damage, the shield absorbs it and increases the charge of Cherub's own shield.  Cherub can store charges and then unleash them in a powerful melee attack that can hit in a wide cone.  Terminal fills the medic role and can use her Gremlin to heal a squad member for 4 points of damage every turn.  Verge is a sectoid with psionic abilities who has a couple of different skills which can be very useful--he can stun an enemy for 1-2 turns or he can make them berserk which will force them to attack an allied target.

As you progress through the story you can also unlock 4 additional squad members.  Each time you are given the option of pick new squad members you choose from a selection of three.  This means that you won't be able to pick ALL of the potential options and because of that....

+ There is replayability in the fact that you don't choose some squad members and if you want to see the full menu of options, you'll need to play through the campaign multiple times.

+ Tons of equipment options.  Each squad member is equipped with a different weapon type but also has slots for a weapon mod, an armor mod, a breach item (*items that are used to breach specific doors or walls or special grenades that can be tossed in during a breach), and a utility item.  Completing assembly projects to improve armor and weapons will also unlock additional item slots as well as new items.  Progressing the story and defeating certain factions unlocks special projects to create gear inspired by that faction--for example, defeating the psionically abled Progeny unlocked special psi items like the mind shield and a psi grenade.  Mixing and matching gear for the best results is a lot of fun.  

+ Special "epic" weapons can be purchased on the scavenger market or possibly offered as a reward for certain missions and offer up powerful bonuses.  These bonuses can only be used once per mission, but the weapons themselves are great--I found a shotgun that allowed for automatic reloads at the end of every turn.

Cons:

- There is some variety in the goals on missions, but the gameplay does get repetitive.  It basically follows a pattern of breach, clear, breach...rinse, repeat.  Each faction is made up of certain types of enemies and you'll see them over and over....and over.

- One of the most irritating parts of the breach-style gameplay is that you are forced to maneuver within a very limited area--maybe a couple of rooms at most.  The most irritating thing is that you do not get to pick the initial position of your squad members (*you do get to pick where they breach and in what order).  There's just not a ton of room to work and that limits your tactical options.

- The main story and faction leaders (AKA bosses) aren't memorable.  The faction bosses have a very cartoon villain vibe.  The main story is basically picking one faction, trying to thwart their evil activities, and then picking another and doing the same thing.

Recommendation:

Chimera Squad is an effort to bring more personality to the XCOM series and it somewhat manages to do that.  I got it on sale for $10 and feel like that price was appropriate (it's a definite "buy on sale" type of title).  If you're a fan of XCOM strategy, you will probably enjoy the ability system and variety of gear--just be prepared for some repetition.

The Games of 2022

I enjoy gaming, but I'm not the kind of person who wants to spend a bunch of time watching all the uber-announcement megashows (your E3's or Nintendo Direct or whatevergamerconthing)--just point me to the trailers and I will decide from there.  There has been a recent spate of gaming related announcements from these events and there are several upcoming titles that I'm going to be keeping my eye on.  Fingers crossed that 2022 shapes up to be a great year in gaming!

The game that has most piqued my attention is Starfield, a Bethesda title that was described as "Skyrim in space."  I like Skyrim and I like space...so those two factors lumped together are enough to get my blood pumping.  It's going to be interesting to see how the acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft impacts the game, the release, or various other factors.  Unshockingly it will be an XBOX exclusive (sorry Playstation peeps).  Will Starfield contain the numerous hilarious bugs and general weirdness of the classic Bethesda title?  Will I have a space-equivalent Lydia to haul around all of my space dragon bones?  I'm watching you Starfield, so don't disappoint!  

Since I'm not hugely into triple A titles, the other announcements that were noteworthy were for games that skew more toward indie status.  Most notably, the adorable Slime Rancher is getting a sequel!  Slime Rancher 2 looks to include tons of everything that I love--cute slimes to interbreed (seriously, bunny slimes? Slimes with little anglerfish-like lures?  Bunny-Anglerfish slimes!), sucking up tons o' plorts, and a bright, sparkly world to explore.  If you want a cute, relaxing game to chill out to...do check out the original Slime Rancher.  

As a big fan of the whacky and comedic hospital management sim Two Point Hospital, I was floored to see that Two Point is releasing a whole new world to meticulously manage...the world of the university campus!  Of course, this isn't your typical university and the courses look like a mishmash of goofiness (which I'm completely here for).  Excitingly, the trailer also promises that there will be even more freedom in designing and managing your campus.  AWESOME!  

A couple of other indie titles also caught my eye--Terra Nil offers a compelling twist on the traditional city builder--what if instead of destroying nature to build a city you were tasked with restoring nature?  The trailer features several of my favorite features--namely relaxing music and the promise of a chillaxin' good time.  (There's actually already a demo on Steam of you want to check it out)  

I was also intrigued by the animation in a game called Planet of Lana.  It is tagged on Steam as a sidescroller/platformer but also "story rich."  Color me curious!  Plus, I'm a sucker for any game that includes interactions with cute critters (and I'm getting some Ori-esque vibes from the little black creature).  I've already wishlisted it and can't wait to see what shakes out.  

So many trailers and so much promise!  Let's hope that nothing crazy happens (like more pandemic delays) and that 2022 shapes up to be a wonderful year filled with great games.

The Legendary Question

I'm about 85-90% of the way through my complete playthrough of Mass Effect's brand, spankin' new Legendary Edition.  My Shep has a few story missions and the highly enjoyable "Citadel" DLC left before I wrap things up.  Since I am mostly done I thought I would weigh in on the $59.99 question--should you buy the Legendary Edition?  Especially, should you buy it if you already own the original trilogy?

Pros:

+ The first game has received a sizeable makeover.  This was my main point of interest as I have traditionally found the first game to be one of the most difficult to re-play.  The graphics have been updated and overhauled to give it a more modern look--it definitely looks better than the 2007 version.  For me, one of the major strengths of the first game was always the space themed exploration and getting to visit beautiful worlds.  The legendary edition makes those worlds even better.  The graphical upgrades in all three games look great.

ME1 looks great!  Photo mode is great for snapping pics.

+The obnoxious Peak 15 graphical bug for AMD CPU's has been fixed.  No more having to play through the entire sequence as a giant, block of black cubes.

+ ME1 combat has been improved.  The enemy AI is somewhat better and you don't spend the majority of your time getting rushed by every enemy in an area.  Weapons seem to have a longer period of firing before they overheat and need a cooldown period.  It's still not as good as it is in the third game, but it's not as excruciatingly horrible as it used to be.

+ The character creator has been updated to include more options to make your Commander Shepard unique.  This includes more consistency when importing your custom Shep into the other games in the series.  I only had one weird issue with my Shep's eyebrows being the wrong color in the second game, but for the most part it is much improved over the original games.

+ Comes with ALL content, even pre-order and special promotional items (like the Dragon Age themed armor set).  Before EA consolidated all the content for the trilogy together on Origin it could be a pain to download and install all the DLC.  You don't have to worry about finding and installing the DLC's or trying to manage importing your character from game to game.  It's really nice to everything in one place.

+ The new photo mode is a great way to capture epic screenshots of all of the Commander's adventures.  I've spent more time than I care to admit snapping pics of nice looking environments or my favorite squadmates.

+ There are a few minor bugs, but for the most part, it has run well.

Garrus just can't stop calibrating.

Cons:

- Even with the upgrades, the first game is still a bit of a slog.  You're still going to experience most of the issues that plague the original game--enemy AI is improved, but many combat areas are designed in a way that naturally funnels enemies toward you, so there's still some level of rushing.  The first game re-used many of the same zones/maps over and over.  Driving the Mako is still a bit of a chore (even with the option to toggle the new controls--which I turned off because it makes you fire and drive in the same direction...which I don't like).  It's important to remember that it's a REMASTER and not a REMAKE.  In a magical, perfect world they would redesign the first game with combat like the third game (I think that would be amazing...but is totally unrealistic).

-Graphics settings are lacking.  I'm not a graphics expert of someone who understand many of the high falutin' graphics terms but, according to the people who are more into that sort of thing, there just aren't many settings that you can tweak.  There was a bit of agonizing over the fact that there isn't an FOV slider in the legendary edition (but something that apparently has been modded).

- Some bugs.  I had one weird launching issue and a few gameplay bugs.  There have been several large patches to fix issues, so it seems like issues are being addressed.  If you're hoping for a PERFECT experience, it's not quite there (but getting closer).

+- Gameplay difficulty seems to be easier than in the OT.  I always struggled to finish ME1 on insanity and decided to give it a try in the LE.  I had no problems and have found insanity difficulty to be easier than in the OT (**not bragging.  I will always stand by the fact that ME is not a series about leet combat skills, so I don't think playing it on insanity is really anything worth bragging about--I just like combat to be challenging, but I know that some people just want to experience the story).  There have been a few sequences that are slightly different and maybe a bit more challenging.

-Pinnacle Station (ME1) and the multiplayer from ME3 are not included.  As someone who has never been a big fan of either, this wasn't particularly heartbreaking to me.  It's looking like they might bring back the multiplayer in ME3 (hopefully not the same way that it was tied into the original game with having it impact the singleplayer story).

Recommendation:

If you are someone new to Mass Effect, the $59.99 price tag is definitely worth it--you're getting three awesome games that include a boatload of DLC that add hours of gameplay and numerous fun items.  It's a bargain compared to the cost of purchasing the base games and all DLC.

If you're someone who already owns the trilogy (and all the DLC's)...that's a bit of a tougher call.  I'm a huge ME fan, but generally not a fan of remasters, so I broke my own rule about buying remasters.  The improvements to the first game are nice and the graphics in all the games do look good, but it's largely the same.  If you can grab it on sale, I would try to do that. 

Mass Effect 2 Retrospective

It has been interesting hearing about the experiences of players new to Mass Effect or hearing people who are re-experiencing the series through the Legendary Edition.  I just recently finished Mass Effect 2 and have rolled directly into the third game.  Good news, when my character imported into the third game her eyebrows returned to their normal color and she looks the way I wanted her to (minus the facial scars that are still MIA).  In finishing the second game, which has always been my favorite, I was trying to decide if I felt any differently about it this time around.

Mass Effect 2 frequently shows up on many top games lists and is loved by many people (including myself).  I've always felt lukewarm about certain main story elements and I still feel that way.  Why does Shepard need to wind up working for Cerberus?  That part has always bugged me to no end (especially as someone who plays paragon)--why would Shepard ever consider working for them after he/she spend all that time in the first game learning about how it's essentially an evil organization? And why did they need to kill Shepard off only to bring him/her back?  I get that they were trying to create some friction and add in some villain types...but I still hate it.

One of the nicer views in ME2.

For me, the real success of storytelling in the second games comes in the form of your crew and their character specific missions.  BioWare did a great job of filling Shep's crew with great characters (and there's tons of debate about who's great and who sucks) with a wide range of complicated issues.  One of my only character related gripes in the second game is the fact that if you're trying to avoid losing your extraneous crew members (to Collector abduction), you will only be able to have Legion in your crew for a very short period of time.  It'd be nice if you could grab him earlier and still be able to save the crew.

Samara....always with the meditating.

I didn't notice a ton of changes in the LE, but there were a few nice ones.  If you're someone who's an avid armor hoarder, all the various armors that were part of outfit pack DLC's or special promotions are now available.  If you want your Shep to have a nice, laidback feeling when just chilling on the Normandy, the highly coveted N7 hoody casual look is available.  The LE features several weapons that I don't remember that are nice additions--my favorite being the Mattock assault rifle--and there are multiple heavy weapons to choose from.

One thing I've noticed in the LE is that the combat does seem easier.  I've been playing on insanity and there haven't been very many challenging sequences.  The one place that did feel a bit different was the derelict reaper; I feel like they decided to really just go crazy with the number of husks that you encounter.  I was very surprised at how easy the final boss fight was compared to in the past--its health seemed to just melt away...and, I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit underwhelming.  But hey, we all know that ME isn't a game about being leet at combat--it's about making friends and boning aliens.

There are still a few lingering bugs, but nothing worth freaking out about.  I snapped fewer pics of the second game, but it does look good (the upgrade's just not as noticeable as in the first game).  I'm still sticking with my plan of staying romance-free until Traynor time.

If your weekend plans include slaying some Collectors or dealing with your crewmembers daddy issues...have fun!